Engines, including diesel engines, gasoline engines, natural gas engines, and other engines known in the art, may exhaust a complex mixture of pollutants. The pollutants may be composed of gaseous and solid material, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (“NOx”), and sulfur compounds.
Due to heightened environmental concerns, engine exhaust emission standards have become increasingly stringent over the years. The amount of pollutants emitted from an engine may be regulated depending on the type, size, and/or class of engine. One method that has been implemented by engine manufacturers to comply with the regulation of particulate matter, NOx, and sulfur compounds exhausted to the environment has been to remove these pollutants from the exhaust flow of an engine with filters. Extended use and repeated regeneration of such filters may cause the pollutants to build up within the filters over time, and various devices and methods exist for removing built-up pollutants from the filters. It may be difficult, however, to evaluate the effectiveness of these devices and methods consistently, and in a timely manner, due to the length of time involved in building up the pollutants within the filters.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,545 (the '545 patent) teaches a system for removing particulate matter from an engine filter. In particular, the '545 patent discloses a filter connected to an engine exhaust line, a valve structure within the exhaust line, and an air feeder. When air is supplied to the filter in a reverse flow direction, the air may remove captured particulates from the filter. Although the '545 patent may teach the removal of matter from a filter using a reversed flow, it may be difficult to evaluate the system's ability to remove the matter from the filter as compared to, for example, other matter removal systems. In addition, it may be difficult to perform consistent and repeated testing of the system's ability to remove matter from the filter due to the relatively long period of time it takes for the filter to become loaded with matter. It may also be difficult to desirably vary the loading conditions within the filter, and quickly and consistently test the system's effectiveness in removing matter under such conditions.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.